Thursday, February 28, 2013

Dining Out for Life Social Roundup

With Dining Out for Life less than two months away, we thought you might start wondering where on the interwebs all this Dine Out Fight AIDS info resides. Here to the rescue, our Dining Out for Life Social Roundup! Read on for your fully informative guide to tweeting, Facebooking, and Googling your way to Dining Out for Life.

Facebook
Of course we're on Facebook as The Damien Center (facebook.com/thedamiencenter), which is the central clearinghouse for all things Damien, including Dining Out. Here, you'll find updates on where to dine out on April 25, restaurant pics and links, maybe a contest or two as the event nears, sponsor updates (we ♥ our sponsors!), and so much more. RSVP to our Dining Out for Life Indianapolis Facebook event and share it with friends to spread the word and fill those restaurants. You also can find Dining Out for Life International at home on Facebook (facebook.com/DineOut4Life), which is where you'll find updates from 60 cities who participate in Dining Out each year. The Dining Out for Life International Facebook event is a cool place to go and see how many people are participating from around the country. 

Twitter
Find us on Twitter at @DamienCenter and look for the hashtag #DOFLIndy for Dining Out posts. Dining Out for Life International is also on Twitter at @DineOut4Life and posts updates from participating cities, our international spokespeople (@LoveMondoTrasho, @PamGrier, @ChopTedAllen, and @La_Daisy) and international sponsor @subaru_usa.

Websites
We've got our own Damien Center website with a dedicated Dining Out for Life area, but we'd also like to direct your attention to Dining Out for Life International's website, which is full of bells and whistles. Don't worry, you can find all the information about the event, restaurants, sponsors, volunteers, and more on our website, but Dining Out for Life International has some cool features that make it easy and fun to find participating restaurants near you and learn about the event. Plus, the International site works great on a smart phone, so when you're out and about on April 25, it'll be a piece of cake to find your next Dining Out hot spot. 

Pinterest
You didn't think we'd miss out an opportunity to post food pics, did you? Check us out the wildly popular Pinterest, paying close attention to our Dining Out for Life board. Pretty pictures. Delicious food. Fun clothes. That's all, folks!

So, are you going to help us spread the word? There are lots of ways to help, whether through one of these channels or something we haven't even thought of yet! Keep us on your calendar for April 25. Dine out, fight AIDS!
 

Friday, February 22, 2013

And the Oscar goes to...

Sunday is the 85th Academy Awards, and for at least one of us here at The Damien Center, that means movie-watching season is in full swing. The quest to see all nine Best Picture nominees before the red carpet gets rolled out is an annual tradition I share with a few friends, but luckily, the task is made easier by AMC's Best Picture Showcase. All nine films, two Saturdays, and lots of well-timed bathroom breaks.

Last Saturday kicked off with Amour, Les Misérables, Argo, and Django Unchained—not the most upbeat of movie marathons. After a long and emotional journey through love and death in Amour, we then took on the fate of France's poorest in Les Mis, the intense evacuation of six Americans during the Iran Hostage Crisis in Argo, and finally, Jamie Foxx's portrayal of a freed slave turned bounty hunter in the quintessentially Tarantino Django. The coming weekend will feature the remaining five Best Picture nominees: Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Life of Pi, Zero Dark Thirty, Silver Linings Playbook, and Lincoln.

And on Sunday, celebrities will get big, fancy awards. Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Editing—the list goes on and on. But two weeks ago, quietly, away from the clamor of the Best Picture nominees and the glitz of the red carpet, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented its annual Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards. These awards, folks, are the really incredible ones. The recipients are doing things that revolutionize the way movies are made, like making computer-generated creatures more realistic and improving workflow with software that can take on entirely new processes. You can read about the winners and be amazed here.

And what does this have to do with The Damien Center? We got to thinking—who's working behind the scenes here? Who are background technicians, the people who make things tick and innovate and move the field forward? Like the Scientific and Technical Achievement Award winners, they've got ideas and stories worth telling about, even if they don't get the Hollywood-ified treatment the stars do. So we're going to change that. We want you to know more about what's going on here at The Damien Center, so we're going to start featuring stories from our staff members. What do they do, why do they do it, who do they serve? What does a day in their shoes look like? Our care coordinators, HIV/STD testers, food pantry staff, housing managers, counselors, and many, many more are the real award winners around here. In the coming months, look for stories from these folks and others. You'll be amazed at the incredible things happening behind the scenes.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Go see Naked Boys Singing and support The Damien Center!

Indy's favorite off-kilter venue, Theatre on the Square, has done it again. Naked Boys Singing, their latest show, delivers hilarity, gratuitous nudity, and, surprisingly, a few heartwarming moments. The best part? The theater is offering up one very special show to benefit none other than yours truly, The Damien Center! You're not going to want to miss this. Why? Here are a few reasons.

1. 100% of your ticket purchase for this special show goes back to The Damien Center. TOTS put together this additional show just for us, so you'll feel all warm and fuzzy knowing your attendance at a nude musical is supporting a cause you care about.

2. Asia's in the house. Special guest Asia LaBouche will be hosting the evening, so buckle up, and for goodness sakes, get your tickets! The eternally fabulous Asia spends most of her Friday nights as a Lady of Legend at Talbott Street Show Lounge, so this is an extra special appearance. Now why would you want to miss that?

3. It's the perfect girls (or guys!) night out. According to Indiana Bride Magazine, NBS would make for the perfect bachelorette party, but we think it goes beyond that. As long as you're with friends you can laugh with, this show is sure to turn your Friday night upside down. 

4. These guys care about performing and want you to have a good time. When's the last time you went to a show where the actors are willing to bare it all for the sake of the stage? The guys in this show are in it for the love of performing. The Indy Star says they want you laugh, connect, and have a great night. So do it already!  

5. Naked. Boys. Singing. Emphasis on the singing. Seriously, these guys have pipes. It's a fun musical revue, and whether it's in the nude or in enough clothes to make you say "Look at me, I'm Chandler! Could I BE wearing any more clothes?" you'll love the fabulous vocals from start to finish.

Have we convinced you yet? Here are the details for when you're ready to get those tickets. See you there!



Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Tomorrow is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Tomorrow is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and here's the reality: of all racial and ethnic groups in the United States, HIV/AIDS affects Blacks the most. In 2009, an estimated 16,741 Blacks were diagnosed with AIDS in the U.S. By the end of 2008, an estimated 240,627 Blacks with an AIDS diagnosis had died in the US. In 2007, HIV was the ninth leading cause of death for all Blacks and the third leading cause of death for both Black men and Black women aged 35–44.

Listening yet? National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is one way we, as members of a community working toward an AIDS-free generation, can start doing something about these statistics. NBHAAD started as a grassroots effort to bring awareness to the severity of what HIV/AIDS and has grown into a nationwide effort to encourage people to get educated, get tested, get involved, and get treated.

While the number of new HIV infections per year among Blacks is down from its peak in the late 1980s, it still has exceeded the number of infections among whites since that time. Even more startling, at some point in their lifetimes, one in 16 Black men will be diagnosed with HIV infection, as will one in 32 Black women.


Having a better idea of how significant the HIV/AIDS epidemic is among the Black population in the U.S. sheds some light on why we should be addressing it. And the good thing is, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day makes it easy to get involved. Here are a few ways you can connect with NBHAAD and show your support:
So send a tweet, post a comment, or just follow along with the conversation. Knowledge is power!